Warm and Fuzzy
by 54Viruses
Summary: A cold lair and a feverish OC make for fluff.
1. Signs and Symptoms

Meant to be purely warm and fuzzy.

I do not own the TMNT (Drat, there goes the warm fuzzy feeling)

For any readers who don't know; a "Wyomingite" is a person from the great state of Wyoming.

* * *

Klunk sat nestled in Mikey's lap, wrapped in a thick, warm blanket. The ginger female had picked up a bad fever a few days ago and had been very sleepy for the duration of her illness. Don had said it was a minor bug with nothing to worry about and it seemed he was right. The fever was gone but Mikey was still intent on spoiling her. So now Mikey sat with his little buddy in his lap watching some television show with a bad plot and worse actors.

Raphael sat behind the couch with his feet propped up on its back and his shell on the stone floor. He occupied himself with a magazine. At one point he tilted the magazine sideways and whistled slightly, staring with a wolfish expression at the centerfold, "Now _that's_ a bike."

As for Leo and Kit, they sat in the dojo fixing torn pads, patching blankets and repairing various other cloth items from around the lair. Kit was still smirking slightly because Leo refused to call their current activity "mending" or even "sewing". Apparently the idea of doing the "mending" wasn't masculine enough for him, so they were just "fixing", "patching" and "repairing".

Donnie was working through his pile of gadgets, gizmos and other assorted tech trying to repair the damage done by his family and friends. He had just pieced back together another shell cell for Casey, a task that he considered proof of job security, and came out of his work area to stretch his legs and reacquaint himself with the other beings in the lair.

He walked over to the monitoring area where Mikey had fallen asleep with the bundle of blankets in his lap; Klunk had crawled free and was on the back of the couch, ready to pounce on an unsuspecting Raphael's magazine. In the dojo Leo was working diligently, but suddenly he flinched and stuck his finger in his mouth, Kit laughed.

These were the times Donnie most enjoyed, when everyone was relaxed and there was nothing pressing on their minds. Although he would prefer for Master Splinter to be here, their teacher was away on sabbatical and would not return until late this week. Don turned to watch Klunk wiggle her rump a little before jumping. She landed right in the middle of Raphael's hot-rod magazine, pulling it out of the turtle's grasp and landing clumsily on his plastron.

"Mikey," Raph growled, "If you don't get this cat off of me in the next-" Raphael was interrupted by a loud clanking rumbling noise that woke Mikey up before quickly subsiding, leaving the lair even quieter than it had been only moments earlier.

"Whoa." Mikey breathed.

"Wath dat-" Leo started before quickly pulling his finger out of his mouth, "Was that the heater?"

Don nodded, "Sounded like a belt broke. I'll go take a look." Raph shoved Klunk off of him and followed Don to see if by some miracle he could help.

When they came back, Don had a nervous look on his face. Leo saw him first and asked what was up. "I was right about the belt; it's shot to pieces. But to make matters worse it damaged several other critical parts; some of which I don't think I have replacement parts for here at the lair." Leo nodded that he understood, so far, "It's probably going to take me a couple days to get the heater back up and running, and by that time it's going to get very cold down here."

Leo nodded, "It's not like we haven't dealt with the cold before. Take your time Donnie."

Before Don could turn to leave Mikey piped up, "Kit might not be used to the cold."

Kit scoffed, "Right Mikey, I'm only a poor Wyomingite who's used to harsh winters and has a built in fur coat. How will I ever cope?"

Mikey refused to drop the subject, he seemed genuinely worried. "If you're so used to the cold, then why are you shivering?"

"I am not shivering!" Kit insisted.

Raph put a hand on Kit's shoulder to check for himself. "Yeah Kit, y' are." Kit frowned, maybe she felt a little cold, but there was no way she was shivering.

Donnie came over to give Kit a closer look. "I'm fine Don, no big deal." He ignored her and put a hand on her shoulder to feel her shivering for himself. Then he put the back of his hand up to Kit's nose, Kit glared and swiped it away, "Very funny."

"Mikey, go get the thermometer out of the bathroom." Donnie ordered. Mikey jumped up and literally ran to the bathroom. Donnie turned back to Kit, "I'm beginning to think you might have caught what Klunk had."

Kit looked at her brainy friend skeptically, "You're saying I caught something from _Klunk_?" One of her ears flattened skeptically.

Donnie nodded, "It's entirely possible. But I need your temperature to be sure."

"Sure Donnie, whatever. But I'm telling you I'm just fi-" For a moment Donnie, Raph and Leo got a full view of Kit's long, white, sharp teeth before she clamped her mouth shut and stifled the rest of the yawn.

"Right."

"Sure."

"Totally convinced."

Mikey came running back with the thermometer. He sat next to Kit but didn't hand the thermometer to her, he looked confused. When he didn't hand the thermometer to anyone Donnie asked him what was wrong.

"You said that Kit might have what Klunk had, right?" Donnie nodded, Mikey continued "Well, when Klunk started acting tired you took that really small thermometer and stuck it in her-"

Kit snatched the thermometer from him, "That won't be necessary." She growled before sticking it in her mouth. The four brothers watched Kit with worried expressions; the prolonged attention was beginning to unnerve her. By the time the thermometer had finished recording her temp Kit felt full blown paranoia setting in and was almost relieved when Donnie took the small device and read it.

"So, Doc Don, am I going to live?" Kit quipped, but his serious expression didn't change.

"Kit, this isn't good."

"Eh, what, exactly does that say?" Donnie handed her the thermometer to read for herself. Kit's eyes widened with disbelief. "That's not good."

"No it's not. Kit, I'm sending you to bed right now. If you don't go I'll make Raph and Mikey gang up on you."

Kit was still staring at the thermometer, it read 105.4 F, that wasn't good if you were a human _or_ a cat, and she was both. Somebody started to lift her from behind and Kit quickly stood up under her own power before handing the thermometer back to Donnie, "I guess I can't argue with that…" she sounded suddenly tired and swayed slightly, causing Mikey to hold his hands out to catch her just in case. "g'night."

Raph and Leo returned the sentiment and Don said he'd be in after a few minutes with something for the fever.

* * *

Have you ever been the last one to know that you were sick? Happens to me all the time.

Anywho, please review!


	2. Prescription

I do not own the TMNT... _**YET**_! Ha ha ha!... maybe after Viacom gets tired of playing with them... yeah... that'll happen.

Sorry about the delay, I realized too late that Kit was also sick in another story I was posting, so I put this one on hold. The irony is that this one was almost finished while the other one had barely been plotted out. Please remember that this story takes place much _much _later than "Runaway"... a year or two at least...

* * *

Chapter two

* * *

"I can do that on my own." Kit insisted feebly as Mikey pulled off her jacket. Standing up had been okay but the act of walking to her room had made Kit very light-headed. Now Mikey was needed to help her get ready for bed despite her protests.

"I know you can but Donnie'll kill me if he finds you still out of bed when he gets here." Mikey said, he tactfully didn't mention the fact that he was holding her up with one hand. After removing her belt and jacket Mikey sat Kit on her bed. "Okay, shirt and pants; these your normal jammies right?"

When Kit nodded the room started to spin and she put a hand over her eyes to make it stop. Her ears were pinned flat and she was forgetting why she was still awake. By the time she felt well enough to uncover her eyes Mikey had folded her jacket and tucked it away in her nightstand. Kit started fiddling with her elbow pads and Mikey helped her to get them off as well as her watch device and the wraps she used to protect her wrists. Unlike the guys; Kit didn't wear knee pads, so he didn't have worry about those.

Donnie came in with a glass of water just as Mikey was trying to get Kit to lie down. "Wow Mikey, you make a great nurse." Donatello teased, Mikey grinned and took it as a compliment before stepping back to let his brother play doctor. Donnie gave Kit the glass and ordered for her to drink it, she started to obey but as soon as the liquid touched her tongue she stopped.

"There's something in the water." Kit held the glass up to try and see what was in it. Interestingly, the more she squinted the more glasses appeared.

"I crushed some pills into it." Experimentally, Donnie waved his hand just a few inches beyond where she held the glass.

Kit stared at him like he had lost his mind, but seemed completely unaware of what his hand was doing. "What kind of pills?"

"Don't worry, I did some research, you should be okay with this stuff." Donnie assured her, dropping his hand.

Kit eyed the glass suspiciously before shrugging, "Well then, if you say so Don." She swirled the liquid in its glass before drinking it down. Artificial, chalky and medicine-y cherry flavor filled her mouth, overpowering the water and she nearly gagged.

Don smiled at the face she made before taking the glass back. "I'll be in later to check your temperature again."

"Right, thanks Donnie."

Donnie turned to Mikey, "Keep an eye on her will you?" Mikey jumped to attention and saluted comically with his left hand. "Very funny goofball." Don turned Kit's lamp off before he left.

"You don't have to do that." Kit objected when Donnie left. She covered another yawn with her fist and tried to shake the last of it off like she normally did, but the movement sent her swaying slightly despite the fact that she was sitting in bed.

One of his characteristic grins broke out across Mikey's face. "Sure I do; Doctor Donnie's orders." Although his words were chipper his voice was softer than usual, the tone he was using was sort of luring Kit to sleep. "Besides, you're the only one around here that's younger than me, so I've got to take extra good care of you! In fact," Mikey actually leaped over Kit and somehow landed gently on the bed beside her without his heavier weight jostling her any, "I'm not going to leave your side." Mikey grabbed Kit's blankets and pulled them up over Kit and himself. He tucked an arm around Kit's shoulders.

Kit chuckled softly as she drifted off to sleep, "Whatever you say Onii-chan." She murmured, perhaps not entirely aware of what she'd just said.

When he realized what she had just called him Mikey glanced at Kit in surprise. After a moment he smiled. Onii-chan; he kind of liked that.

* * *

If you haven't gotten the warm fuzzies yet, I'll be posting the next chapter very soon.

For the record; If you don't know what Onii-chan means look it up. Hopefully that way if I got it wrong you'll get it wrong the same way ;p


	3. Bedrest

I do not own the TMNT.

Mild OOC might be found ahead but remember; it's getting freakin' cold in there! And the guys _are_ turtles.

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

Leo plopped a newly repaired couch cushion back onto the couch. He was glad to be done with the work, using sewing needles was one of those things better done with smaller fingers. Just thinking about getting stabbed with a needle again made him unconsciously rub his fingertips together. Swords were one thing; knives were almost laughable, but sewing needles? Inhumane.

Although the heater had only been down for a couple hours the stone floor of the dojo was already cold and the air held a chill that made Leo dread the next couple of days. Donnie was working on the heater and Raph was helping him somehow, but until they finished the lair would only get colder.

Frowning and shaking his head Leo pushed thoughts of the cold out of his mind. That was a minor concern and he had more important things to distract himself with. As proof of how many other things there were to do Leo decided to check on Kit, if she was awake she might want a drink or food.

The door to her room was partially closed; Mikey or Donnie must have done that. Inside the light was off but Leo peeked in anyway. He smiled when he saw both Mikey and Kit asleep on the bed. Using his mastery of ninja stealth Leo snuck into the room and pulled the blanket back up to cover the sleeping mutants. His smile widened when he noticed that Kit had actually cuddled up against Mikey's side.

"Hey bro." Mikey grinned sleepily up at his brother. The shifting of the blanket must have woken him.

"Hey." Leo replied. "Protecting a young damsel from harm?" He quipped lightly.

Mikey frowned, "Don't let Kit catch you calling her that." Leo chuckled, if Kit had heard him that she would either have tried to beat the living daylights out of him for it right there or make him eat his words later somehow. The orange banded turtle scrunched his nose in the air and pulled the covers up a little higher, "You know, it's cold out there."

"I had noticed." Leo commented dryly. "By the way, you want me to take your mask or something?"

"Now that you mention it." Mikey reached under the covers with one hand and pulled out his nunchucks. With Kit sleeping on Mikey's arm he couldn't even reach the nightstand. "Think you could help a guy out?" Leo nodded. He took the weapons and put them aside for Mikey, then accepted his mask. "I think I can put up with the rest." Mikey assured him.

Leo smiled, "Okay then. Good night, Mikey." He turned towards the door.

"Y' know Leo." Mikey began, his brother turned back to him. "Kit's kinda feverish over here. I think she's mostly being such a cuddly cat just trying to cool down, but since I'm feeling kinda warm. You know any other cold blooded folk around here who might be able to help her out?"

Leo chuckled and was about to refuse, but he took another step and his foot landed on a particularly cold part of the floor.

* * *

Let's see, cold floor, or warm bed? Seriously, do I have to spell it out for you?

By the way; any comments that are inapropriate will be ignored, deleted if possible.


	4. Keep warm

I do not own the TMNT.

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

"Raph, I can get the rest of tonight's repairs done by myself. Just go to bed okay?" Donnie said patiently. Raphael refused to leave until he had tracked down a spare blanket and wrapped it around a grateful Donatello's shoulders.

As he returned to the lair he shivered at the idea of going to bed in his hammock, which was comfortable but it had a tendency to be so darn cold too! He decided to put off the inevitable by getting Kit a drink of water. Raph figured it didn't matter when she woke up, until the heating got up and running the glass would stay cool.

As he reached in to set the glass on Kit's nightstand without disturbing her Raph noticed something strange shadowed on the nightstand. Pushing the door open a crack more revealed the shadows to belong to a pair of nunchucks wrapped in orange. Raph pushed the door open a little further and was able to make out not one, not two, but three figures sleeping soundly on the bed. The door was pushed open further still and Raph could see Leo and Mikey on either side of Kit. Their masks draped over her lamp and Leo's katana leaned up against the foot of the bed.

For a moment Raph stood in the doorway watching them sleep, completely unaware of the small smile on his face. He remembered fondly back in the days when he and his brothers would sleep together in a turtle pile. As he crossed his arms habitually he felt the stiffness of his fingers in the cold and the slightly stronger sting of the broken skin on his knuckles from an overzealous training session against with the punching bag a couple days ago. More and more Raph found himself missing the days way back when. Why had he and his brothers stopped sleeping like that?

Oh yeah, Raph had asked Master Splinter to let them have separate sleeping areas. He had been fed up with Mikey's kicking and whining as well as Donnie's mumbling and Leo's…well, at the time he was just fed up with Leo.

The smile slipped back to its customary frown. Raph quickly shrugged the memory off guiltily. He stepped forward and lifted Mikey's mask off the lamp, using it to wipe up a slime trail that was oozing from Mikey's mouth. After replacing the mask he smirked at Leo and pulled the blanket up a little further before moving to sit down on the foot of the bed.

Between the warmth radiating from under the blanket and the comfortable sense of peace that seemed to fill the room it wasn't long before Raph slipped off to his own dreams.

As soon as gentle rumblings started to emanate from Raph's throat one of Leo's eyes peaked open. Raph's snores grew a little louder, proving him to be out for the night. Leo slid out from the warm space under the covers, hissing slightly as his feet touched the cold floor. He hurried from the room but returned soon after with another blanket. Gently, he spread the spare over Raphael before returning to the warmth under the covers.

Leo's last thought before slipping into a light sleep was to wonder why he had ever told Master Splinter he thought that he and his brothers were old enough for their own sleeping spaces.

* * *

Three little turtles,

sleeping on the bed.

One more left and

...uh, I can't come up with a good fourth line here.


	5. Plenty of fluids

I do not own the TMNT.

* * *

Chapter 5

* * *

By the time Donatello had given up on the heater for the night and left his tools in his lab the blanket Raph had given him more than an hour ago was distinctly chilled. Donnie found himself cringing slightly as he walked across the cold floors of the lair. He happily flopped into his bed and pulled the covers up, ready to doze off and dream of hot coffee.

Something nagged at him.

Finally Don opened his eyes and glared at the ceiling. He could now remember that he needed to check Kit's temperature before he turned in, if it had risen any Don would need to do something to bring it down. Reluctantly he pushed the blankets off and stepped back onto the icy floor. He wrapped one of the blankets around himself and hurried out of the room. Don jogged across the lair to Kit's room before he snapped his fingers and ran back to the bathroom for the thermometer. After returning to Kit's room Donnie checked the thermometer and frowned at how low the mercury had dropped from just resting by the sink. It was one thing to feel cold; it was another to have proof of it.

Finally he slipped into the darkened bedroom and paused inside to let his eyes adjust. Even when his eyes had adjusted properly Don rubbed at them to make sure he was seeing correctly.

Yep, there were four figures asleep on the bed, one of which was creating enough noise that it should have woken the other three up. Don wasn't sure how they had all convinced each other to sleep on that one small bed, but even Raph looked like he had been there awhile.

"What are you smiling about?" Kit sat up, blinking slightly, eyes glazed with fever and sleep. As she sat up the blanket slid a little off of Mikey who squirmed and cuddled closer to his warm hot-headed brother in his sleep. Kit glanced down at the two of them in confusion before looking to her other side and seeing Leo had taken over half of her pillow. "Oh." Her 'oh' did not seem to indicate understanding.

Donnie's smile grew slightly, "Here." He handed Kit the thermometer and she stuffed it into her mouth.

Kit's eyes widened and she spat the glass rod into her hand, "It's cold." She accused. Donatello struggled to hold back a chuckle; the look on Kit's face wasn't much different than it had been after she had drunk the concoction he'd given her a few hours ago.

"Put it back in." He scolded lightly. Kit stuck her tongue out at him but did as she was told. While they waited for the glass to warm and the mercury to rise, Donnie checked how warm her ears were and felt her pulse to make sure it hadn't accelerated or slowed dangerously. He almost burst out laughing at the spacey look that came over her face when he rubbed her ears. Typically she'd swat at anyone who touched them, with claws. Now she was reacting a little like Klunk. "You really are out of it." Donnie noted with great amusement.

" 'm not." Kit retorted sleepily.

Donnie took the thermometer from her mouth. It confirmed that her temperature had fallen a couple degree so no immediate action was necessary; aside from maybe tucking the fluffy mutant back in. After setting the thermometer on her nightstand –between a nunchuck and a couple shuriken- Donnie handed Kit a glass of water someone had put there. She drank about half of the glass before handing it back and starting to scoot back between Mike and Leo. Once she had settled down Donnie pulled the covers up and started tucking them around the various mutants. His ministrations temporarily uncovered Raph's arm. Raph mumbled something in his sleep and made to grab his sais, catching Donnie's wrist instead. The hothead slid deeper into sleep, but his grip remained firm.

Kit was still awake enough to see what had happened. She yawned before smiling with contented amusement. "How's the genius going to handle this, I wonder?" She murmured.

Donatello glanced between his hand, his patient, and his brother. He didn't want to wake Raph, and pulling his hand free would risk doing just that. Neither did he want to stand out here in the cold until Raph decided to let go.

The solution he chose may not have been genius, but it worked.

* * *

The rest next week.


	6. Someone checks in

I do not own the TMNT.

* * *

Chapter 6

* * *

Gandhi fasted for more than a hundred days. Ancient sages were said to have meditated for even longer. Master Splinter was neither and he felt that coming home two days early was not too horrible, especially considering how miserable the weather had been to his own aged bones.

Furthermore; neither Ghandi nor the ancient sages had students with such a knack for getting into trouble.

Splinter had just managed to concoct a story as to why he had chosen to return early when he made his way through the main entrance of their home looking eagerly forward to a warm welcome from whoever might still be awake.

Unfortunately he was greeted with an empty and cold lair. Had it not been for the faintest echoes of Raphael's snores signaling that somebody was both home and comfortable the old rat might have worried. As it was he curiously followed the noise until he came to Kitrian's door and peaked inside. His eyes easily picked out the five figures on the bed under a small pile of blankets.

In the middle of the pile of turtles there was a lump that Master Splinter could only assume was Kitrian trying to escape the cold air in her sleep. Judging from her aversion to the cold, a half finished glass of water on the nightstand and the four guests Master Splinter judged that Kitrian was likely the source of the faint scent of fever in the air, and a feverish mammal in a cold lair would easily draw four partially cold-blooded turtles.

Of the shadowed and unmasked turtles Raphael was the easiest to recognize even with his face covered with a pillow due to his being responsible for the impression that a chainsaw was functioning nearby. And ever inventive and resourceful it was Donatello who had most likely placed the pillow over Raphael's face to mute the noise. He had fallen asleep with his hand still resting upon said pillow yet Raphael vigilantly continued his quest for volume. On Raphael's other side Michelangelo brushed off the Silver Sentry's apparent gratitude for Turtle Titan saving the day…again. The last turtle, Leonardo, remained still in his sleep save for a small contented smile that was reflected by his brothers.

Something gave a purring meow and slipped past Master Splinter's feet. Klunk leapt easily onto the bed, slowly navigated the lumps and bumps under the blankets before finding her turtle and curling up in the narrow space between his head and the wall.

In the words of the Ancient sages, this was a Kodak moment.


	7. Epilogue

I do not own the TMNT.

* * *

Epilogue

* * *

Kit had not been happy that morning. Waking up to find she'd been sick _again_ was bad enough, but to make matters worse it turned out she'd been down for the last two days. When Kit tried she could vaguely remember talking to somebody about something right when she'd gone to bed, but after that it was just one long nap. Her body had felt like it'd been run through one of Master Splinter's more difficult training sessions. Still, she forced herself down to the kitchen. As far as Kit was concerned she was _healthy_ now, no one and nothing could make her act otherwise.

When she sat at the breakfast table, Master Splinter handed Kit a cup of tea. She inhaled the scent and smiled. "Arigato Sensei." She thanked Master Splinter for the special blend of tea he always served after someone had been ill. It was her favorite, though a little harder to come by, so it was a special treat. The tea was at just the right temperature, warm enough to both relax and strengthen, yet not so hot as to be uncomfortable in the moderately heated lair.

Heated… Kit's ears twitched. Very faintly she could hear the smooth sound of a perfectly functioning heating system. Hopefully the guys hadn't been too uncomfortable when things got chilly. Leo especially tended to get a little cranky when he was cold. Of course Leo cranky was right about at the level of Raph on a normal day so it wasn't like it was a bad thing.

Mikey stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Kit, hungry?" He asked.

Kit considered. "I could eat." She admitted. At the moment neither the thought of food nor the aromas emanating from the kitchen appealed to her much. Seeing her lack of appetite, Mikey soon emerged from the kitchen with a plate holding half of a slice of toast and a small helping of scrambled eggs.

By this time the morning training session had already passed and Raphael soon sat at the table smelling faintly of soap from his shower. Kit could hear Leo and Don somewhere in the lair discussing either a larger water heater or some kind of external shutoff for the shower. "Hey." Raph greeted the three who could hear him. He then nodded at Kit. "Yer awake. Not gonna puke, are ya?"

"Nah." Kit assured him, nibbling her food. At least, she hadn't been feeling nauseas _before_ Raph brought the subject up. "I'm good." She took another sip of tea to try and settle her stomach before it made a liar out of her.

Leo and Don had finished their discussion and joined the rest of the clan at the table just as Mikey finished serving Raph his plate. While the hothead and the clown bickered good naturedly over Mikey giving Raph the same amount of breakfast as he had given Kit, Leo and Don went to the kitchen for their preferred morning drinks. By the time they'd sat down Mikey had replaced Raph's plate and given everyone else their food as well before sitting down with his own.

It was pleasant. Everyone at the table together for breakfast wasn't exactly the norm and for some reason everyone –yes, even Raph- seemed to be in a good mood. Master Splinter commented on a few positive points of his trip and mentioned that he'd had a few thoughts he wished to bring up during the next few weeks of training. Don was pleased that the repairs to the heater had gone so well and he was now caught up on most of the household repairs. He didn't even seem all that bothered when Mikey informed him that the toast they were enjoying had been done in the oven and that the actual toaster would require some more of the genius's magic. Leo told Kit she wasn't allowed to train with everyone for at least another day or two and for once she didn't argue. Raph even had a rather light-hearted story to tell involving his last night hanging out with Casey and a box of abandoned puppies.

Despite having so much less to eat than everyone else, Kit finished last and carried her dishes to the kitchen where the odd spirit of goodwill continued and all four turtles had volunteered to do the dishes. As this chore was being accomplished in record time Kit handed her dishes to Mikey before speaking up. "Um… would anybody happen to know why I woke up this morning in a bed with four blankets and _five_ pillows?"

Quite suddenly the dishes were finished and the kitchen abandoned. Kit blinked and looked around the empty room. "Okay, one of those 'not gonna talk about it' things. Got it."


End file.
